"And the Award Goes To..."

... ME!!!

Tonight is Oscar Night, and there will be plenty of awards being handed out. As a big movie buff, I usually try to see as many of the contenders that I can. However, I find myself missing the boat this year.

The only movie I've seen that was nominated for Best Picture is "Benjamin Button" (I'm not going to type that lengthy name... the damn movie was long enough!)

And along with the Oscars, there will be numerous Oscar-watching parties. I've never been to one, but I'm sure there will be a variety of "adult beverages" consumed.

Mmm.... soooo tasty...!!!

So in the spirit of the awards, I wanted to let you know that I'll be enjoying one of my own:

The award for running 6-miles today!

Can you believe it? I'm now at 6 miles! That's just freakin' awesome in my book! I've worked very hard to get to this point in my training, and I'm literally on cloud 9! Six miles! Whoo Hoo!

It wasn't easy... either getting to this point or actually completing today's run. Here's a recap:

As most of you know, Sundays are dedicated to my "long runs." I started the run after warming up for a half-mile on the Crossramp. I was fortunate that one of my favorite treadmills was available, and I knew the new songs I downloaded from iTunes would go a long way today.

The first two miles were actually pretty good. I was running slower (5.4 mph) than normal, but I didn't want to overdo it. I remember thinking, "This is going great! I'm in the zone!" Well, I spoke too soon.

After taking a quick water break at 3 miles, I got after it and started increasing my speed. Going into mile 4, I could tell I was starting to feel tired. I also could feel the pain in my right knee... My right knee and I have a long history of "arguing."

Around mile 5, a curious thing happened: My left knee started joining the conversation. I'm thinking, "OK... what gives? I've never had problems over there on that side of fence."

Heading into the final half mile, my spirits started to pick up. Regardless of the irritating pain, I knew I was going finish and I was picturing what it would be like crossing that Finish Line in Oklahoma City.

After the six, I walked another half mile to cool down. I then went downstairs to do some weightlifting (chest and shoulders) before leaving. You know, when you're on the treadmill for 75 minutes (981 calories), that's a lot of sweat! I was soaked... but I felt fantastic!

So my "award" tonight is the Westmalle Tripel - it's a golden Trappist Ale from a town of the same namesake in Belgium. Beer Advocate gives it an "A" in their ratings...

Tonight... I say it's an Oscar winner for sure!